Writing Workshops

How He Wrote: Generative Exercises Based on Jorge Luis Borges’s Short Stories and Prose Poems with Javier Sinay

$345

4 sessions

Out of stock

Once a week Tuesdays, 6:00 pm EDT - 8:00 pm EDT September 23 to October 14, 2025

Online via Zoom

As Pico Iyer once said: “Borges was my hero growing up—in the 1970s, in both England and America, he was the man we all wanted to be (or to see or to hear).” Borges, Latin America’s finest writer of the twentieth century—a true literary sensation and the author of “The Aleph” and “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote”— redefined the possibilities of the short story genre and achieved a style that mixes narrative, philosophy and poetry.

We’ll read two short stories or prose poems by Borges every week and we will use them as a basis for that session’s writing prompt. The exercises will focus on character creation, narrator’s point of view, plot structure, turning points and the search for the deeper meaning behind the stories. Borges was an infinite author: we will discover his groundbreaking trans-genre work and let it influence our writing.

Course Outline:

Week 1: “Emma Zunz” and “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote,” Creative Writing Prompt on Character Building
Week 2: “The life of Tadeo Isidoro Cruz (1829-1874)” and “The Lacquer Stick,” Creative Writing Prompt on Writing About Fate and Randomness
Week 3: “Death and the Compass” and “The South,” Creative Writing Prompt on Plot Structure and Turning Points
Week 4: “The Aleph,” “Borges and Myself,” and “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius,” Creative Writing Prompt on Narrator’s Point of View

Teaching Style: Workshops, for me, are spaces for learning, exchange and conversation. When I teach I always have my notes and my slides with texts, images and videos, and I really enjoy when students ask questions, suggest things and tell their own stories. I believe a writing class can transform you when it leads you to think outside the box.

Level: All Levels

This course will be held online via Zoom.

Led by

Javier Sinay

Javier Sinay

Javier Sinay is an author and a journalist. His books include The Murders of Moises Ville, Después de las 09:53 and Sangre joven, which won the Rodolfo Walsh Award at Semana Negra in Gijón, Spain. In 2015 he won the award of Fundación Gabo for his story “Fast. Furious. Dead,” published in Rolling Stone. He has been leading workshops at The Center For Fiction since 2023. He lives in Buenos Aires.

Photo Credit: Vera Rosemberg

About this series

Writing Workshops

We strive to make our classes the most inviting and rewarding available, offering an intimate environment to study with award-winning, world-class writers. Each class is specially designed by the instructor, so whether you’re a fledgling writer or an MFA graduate polishing your novel, you’ll find a perfect fit here.

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